Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Father Damien touched the people everyone else feared, and it cost him his life. The film shows a priest who keeps his vows under temptation, confesses from the wharf to a bishop kept on his boat, and pours himself out for the abandoned. It is a strong picture of charity. The reservation is content: leprosy is shown plainly, and the settlement's despair includes drink, abuse of children and sexual sin.
For parents
For older teens and adults. The sores and deaths are hard to watch, and the island's vice is named. Ask: why did Damien touch the sick when he was told not to? What did confession mean to him? How is he like Christ, who took on our condition?